Rare earth minerals and related metals are a critical part of our world, yet their future is fraught with difficulties. As irreplaceable finite resources, their days are numbered. And while they’re here, the people who labor to mine these minerals and manufacture the products we use face cruel working conditions in Eastern Congo, China and Taiwan.

Rare earth minerals are not “rare” in the sense that they are scarce in the Earth’s crust. However, because their concentration in available mineral ores is small, it is often not economically feasible to mine them.

Ninety-seven percent of the world’s supply of rare earth minerals comes from China, and it has cut back on exports, claiming it only has a 20-year supply of rare earth minerals left. Although other countries have these minerals in the ground, creating a viable rare earth mine is believed to take upward of 10 years to establish.

Importantly, any country that commits to the mining and refining process is essentially declaring anything within the vicinity a “dead zone.” In China, the waters of the tailings ponds where mine waste is discharged contain a Pandora’s box of toxic chemicals and radioactive elements, such as thorium, that cause cancers of the pancreas and lungs.

Because of the low concentration of rare earth minerals in the ore, they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths that lead to toxic air pollution so vile that farmers living in China’s “rare earth capital” in Baotou found their pigs and cows dying horrible deaths, their vegetables failing to thrive and nearby villagers sickened from poisonous vapors.

Because rare earth minerals power our electronic devices, the demand on their production has skyrocketed over the past decade from 40,000 tons to 120,000 tons a year — so fast that we’re running out. Indium, a related metal, is used as a thin-film conductor in flat-panel television screens and solar panels. According to Armin Reller, a materials chemist at the University of Augsburg in Germany, the world has, at best, 10 years before production begins to decline.

Gallium is a blue-white metal that has the unique characteristics of a very low melting point and the inability to oxidize. Gallium has many important uses, and it’s essential in making liquid-crystal displays in cellphones, flat-screen televisions and computer monitors. As the market exploded for LCD displays for phones, IPads, IPods and more in the past decade, supplies of gallium have reached such a critical point that Reller projects that existing sources will be exhausted in as little as four years.

Many other rare earth minerals are expected to reach peak levels in the next few years.

Besides the problem of depletion and pollution is the question of how these elements are sourced. The Eastern Congo is a major source of tin, tantalum and tungsten used in the manufacture of cellphones, laptops, MP3 players and video game systems.

Of the 13 major mines in Eastern Congo, 12 are controlled by armed groups, essentially known as the African mafia. Some of these are owned by a Rwanda militia connected to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and others by the Congolese army as its personal bank account. Many of these mines use child labor, forced labor or other forms of involuntary servitude. According to a leading minerals expert in the region, the miners are treated like slaves without any health or safety regulations.

According to J.D. Stier, an expert on human rights issues, the Congo is currently facing the deadliest conflict in the world with more than 6 million people having died since the 1990s. In addition, the Eastern Congo is the rape capital of the world where hundreds of women and girls have been raped as a weapon to send shock, fear and submission into communities that might attempt to fight back. The minerals trade finances the violence by multiple armed groups, sustaining the use of mass rape and murder, thereby securing control of mines, trading routes and other strategic areas.

Given these issues, major questions arise as to the sustainability of our digital world, not to mention the morality of supporting the human rights and environmental degradation that these minerals engender. While it’s possible that other substitutes will be found and that recycling can play some role in maintaining a flow of raw material, the overreliance on current technologies might be misplaced.

A few things to consider: (1) If all of your family’s memories (photos, letters, history) are on a digital medium, you might consider making hard-copy backups for the future. (2) If you are concerned about the collateral damage to the environment and to miners, see these websites that rank businesses on their corporate responsibility: www.raisehopeforcongo.org/companyrankings; tinyurl.com/greener-stuff.

Technology offers a world beyond what we could have dreamed of just two decades ago. But it has also made us more vulnerable to a global supply chain that is not as stable as it might appear. And those who labor to supply us with the basic components for our technological gadgets rarely profit from our conveniences.

Let’s play a role today in creating a more just and less vulnerable world.

<p>Dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium — they don't exactly roll off the tongue like gold, silver or oil. Yet they've become our world's new gold, used in cellphones, cars, military technology, wind turbines, light bulbs and portable electronic devices.</p><p>Rare earth minerals and related metals are a critical part of our world, yet their future is fraught with difficulties. As irreplaceable finite resources, their days are numbered. And while they're here, the people who labor to mine these minerals and manufacture the products we use face cruel working conditions in Eastern Congo, China and Taiwan.</p><p>Rare earth minerals are not “rare” in the sense that they are scarce in the Earth's crust. However, because their concentration in available mineral ores is small, it is often not economically feasible to mine them.</p><p>Ninety-seven percent of the world's supply of rare earth minerals comes from China, and it has cut back on exports, claiming it only has a 20-year supply of rare earth minerals left. Although other countries have these minerals in the ground, creating a viable rare earth mine is believed to take upward of 10 years to establish.</p><p>Importantly, any country that commits to the mining and refining process is essentially declaring anything within the vicinity a “dead zone.” In China, the waters of the tailings ponds where mine waste is discharged contain a Pandora's box of toxic chemicals and radioactive elements, such as thorium, that cause cancers of the pancreas and lungs.</p><p>Because of the low concentration of rare earth minerals in the ore, they must be separated and purified, using hydro-metallurgical techniques and acid baths that lead to toxic air pollution so vile that farmers living in China's “rare earth capital” in Baotou found their pigs and cows dying horrible deaths, their vegetables failing to thrive and nearby villagers sickened from poisonous vapors.</p><p>Because rare earth minerals power our electronic devices, the demand on their production has skyrocketed over the past decade from 40,000 tons to 120,000 tons a year — so fast that we're running out. Indium, a related metal, is used as a thin-film conductor in flat-panel television screens and solar panels. According to Armin Reller, a materials chemist at the University of Augsburg in Germany, the world has, at best, 10 years before production begins to decline.</p><p>Gallium is a blue-white metal that has the unique characteristics of a very low melting point and the inability to oxidize. Gallium has many important uses, and it's essential in making liquid-crystal displays in cellphones, flat-screen televisions and computer monitors. As the market exploded for LCD displays for phones, IPads, IPods and more in the past decade, supplies of gallium have reached such a critical point that Reller projects that existing sources will be exhausted in as little as four years.</p><p>Many other rare earth minerals are expected to reach peak levels in the next few years.</p><p>Besides the problem of depletion and pollution is the question of how these elements are sourced. The Eastern Congo is a major source of tin, tantalum and tungsten used in the manufacture of cellphones, laptops, MP3 players and video game systems.</p><p>Of the 13 major mines in Eastern Congo, 12 are controlled by armed groups, essentially known as the African mafia. Some of these are owned by a Rwanda militia connected to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and others by the Congolese army as its personal bank account. Many of these mines use child labor, forced labor or other forms of involuntary servitude. According to a leading minerals expert in the region, the miners are treated like slaves without any health or safety regulations.</p><p>According to J.D. Stier, an expert on human rights issues, the Congo is currently facing the deadliest conflict in the world with more than 6 million people having died since the 1990s. In addition, the Eastern Congo is the rape capital of the world where hundreds of women and girls have been raped as a weapon to send shock, fear and submission into communities that might attempt to fight back. The minerals trade finances the violence by multiple armed groups, sustaining the use of mass rape and murder, thereby securing control of mines, trading routes and other strategic areas.</p><p>Given these issues, major questions arise as to the sustainability of our digital world, not to mention the morality of supporting the human rights and environmental degradation that these minerals engender. While it's possible that other substitutes will be found and that recycling can play some role in maintaining a flow of raw material, the overreliance on current technologies might be misplaced.</p><p>A few things to consider: (1) If all of your family's memories (photos, letters, history) are on a digital medium, you might consider making hard-copy backups for the future. (2) If you are concerned about the collateral damage to the environment and to miners, see these websites that rank businesses on their corporate responsibility: www.raisehopeforcongo.org/companyrankings; tinyurl.com/greener-stuff.</p><p>Technology offers a world beyond what we could have dreamed of just two decades ago. But it has also made us more vulnerable to a global supply chain that is not as stable as it might appear. And those who labor to supply us with the basic components for our technological gadgets rarely profit from our conveniences.</p><p>Let's play a role today in creating a more just and less vulnerable world.</p>